Post by ericfromnj on Apr 9, 2015 16:52:07 GMT -8

OK, so I DM a lot and we convinced one of the other players to DM for the time being. He decided he wanted to do Pathfinder and since many of us a few years back were big 3rd edition fans this seemed like a great idea.

Being the GM, I was not the most tactically sound guy in the world. My players - some worked hard on it and some didn't - but everyone had fun.

Is there a site about tactically positioning yourselves for combat or how to go about fighting because the new GM is playing for keeps. All of us were hit with a color spray by an invisible sorcerer at first level which basically took out every low WILL save character for the fight and led to a Total Party Capture, which the GM had to adjust for because he didn't expect that to happen.

Post by Houndin on Apr 13, 2015 11:47:56 GMT -8

Well... Other than common sense and learning from your mistakes, you can search for 'small unit tactics' or go for an actual military manual like armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_21x8.pdf though it may be more than you're looking for. You could also watch a lot of war movies that focus on small units. Bear in mind that modern weapons like grenades, RPGs and mortars are equivalent AOE weapons to magic spells like fireball, burning hands, and color spray, so the tactics should be reasonably similar. At least I think so.

Post by goodmush on Apr 14, 2015 9:45:50 GMT -8

Tactics is the military science dealing with detailed maneuvers to achieve objectives set by strategy or a plan for attaining a particular goal. My best suggeestion would be to set down some plans with your other players on how your group interacts with each other during combat. But while thinking ahead about this is preferable that may not always happen. I have seen that durning the course of a game group combat tactics come about organically. But if your GM is of the unforgiving type, a small collaboration might need to take place.

Post by ilina on Feb 18, 2016 23:21:43 GMT -8

research the worlds tropes and apply common sense as appropriate. a lot of modern tactical techniques apply, even if they don't all work. for example, fireballs are highly precise AoE weapons with ranges that are hundreds of times further than most RPGs or Mortars. and there are new tactical techniques opened up through potions, scrolls and wands.

resist energy and darkvision are valuable items in potions for NPC Tactics, but here are some key items

keep some cheap potion buffs from partial caster lists, Ranger, Alchemist, Paladin and Summoner are good places to search. potions are an overpriced way to heal, but a cheap way to buff yourself

stay spread out, a Straight line will get you lightningbolted, a small tight pack will get you fireballed.

keep watch for traps. i mean sure, the damage dealt by a trap is minor, but the having to heal while the trap resets can be annoying, and a wounded barbarian can lead to misfortune for the party when it taxes your healing wand of its charges.

be watchful of your fights, sometimes, diplomacy or bribery works better than actually fighting.

don't minmax a one trick pony, i mean sure, you will be overpowered with your one gimmick, but you will be screwed without it.